All real estate services provided by (candidate) notaries fall under the scope of the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Act (WWFT). Pursuant to the WWFT, we are obliged to carry out a whole series of investigations before we can start the work requested. This applies to both new relationships and existing relationships.
Client investigation. Establishing identity
Clients and the directors of clients (legal persons) who have work carried out by us (such as drawing up a (transport) deed or providing advice) must identify themselves. Identification is made on the basis of a valid passport, identity card, Dutch driving licence or Dutch alien's document.
What does this mean for you?
We must make a copy of your proof of identity and keep it on file.
Legal entities. Representation and UBO
If a legal entity is involved in a transaction, we will need to use a recent extract from the trade register to determine whether the legal entity exists and, if possible, to establish who is authorised to act on behalf of the legal entity. We will also need to establish who the 'ultimate beneficial owner' (UBO) is. H
What does this mean for you?
You will be asked to complete and sign a UBO declaration at the start of the work.
Politically Prominent Person
With regard to each client and each UBO, it must also be established whether that person qualifies as a 'Politically Prominent Person' (PEP).
What does this mean for you?
You will be asked to complete and sign a PEP declaration at the start of your work.
Investigate origin of financial resources. Insight into money flows and transfers via own bank accounts
If you deposit money in our account, we are obliged to investigate where this money comes from. You will have to prove how the amount of money was obtained.
Money deposited by a client in our trust account must come from a bank account of the person who has to pay this money to the notary. This may only be deviated from if there is a good reason, for example when money is deposited by the person lending or donating money to the client.
What does this mean for you?
We will ask you to complete and sign a statement regarding the origin of the financial resources to finance the property or shares, which statement should be accompanied by supporting documents. For example, you can think of an inheritance tax return, income tax return, annual accounts or gift deed.
Notification
As soon as we suspect that a transaction is unusual or could be related to money laundering or terrorist financing, it must be reported to the competent authority (FIU-the Netherlands). We assess ourselves whether there is a potentially suspicious situation, and we may not inform you. Subsequently, we may decide not to provide the requested service.
For more information on the WWFT, please contact us. We will be happy to help you.
pkooijman@kooijmanautar.nl
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